A current of vitality and renewal lights up The Wilderness. Here, finally, is the next phase for Explosions in the Sky. The album is thrillingly foreign yet familiar in its finest moments.
Wilderness reimagines the calling cards of the band. All, that is, except for one: EITS still knows how to craft a beautiful atmosphere that demands to soundtrack something.
For a group whose bread and butter has until now been the musical equivalent of a whisper building to an H-bomb explosion over the course of twelve minutes, The Wilderness proves that Explosions in the Sky aren’t stuck in any creative rut.
On The Wilderness, Explosions in the Sky deconstruct and rebuild their sound from the ground up, giving it a revitalized sense of urgency and resulting in some of their most dynamic work yet.
They’ve retained this emotional resonance by remembering that it’s not just explosive crescendos that matter, but the small stuff too.
Of all of Explosions’ studio albums, this is the one that sounds most like a score, even if it has components that would never appear in a score. It lacks the game-changing element of The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place or Those Who Tell the Truth. Instead of pushing into new universes, they’re content to find a quiet corner in one they’ve already built.
A record that sounds less like the remaking they billed it as and more like an explorative sidestep.
Explosions In the Sky still retain their vitality in strong melody and melodramatic disposition, it’s just at times you wish they were a little more daring.
There are times when this stuff can feel like precious melodrama. But if it hits you in the right mood of pillowy existential bumfuzzlement, its power to distract and even transport is pretty undeniable.
There aren’t many explosions here, but there’s plenty of dynamic songwriting, which is more than enough for a rewarding listening experience.
After a decade and a half, and now seven studio albums and counting, Explosions in the Sky proves it still has what it takes to deliver a stunningly deep and textured album.
While it features some of Explosions' most exploratory music to date, the record is dragged down by passages that, despite the astro-nautical theme of the track titles, occasionally fail to reach the stratospheric heights Explosions are known for.
‘The Wilderness’ ... is Explosions hitting autopilot when they enter uncharted airspace, rather than exploring the potentially limitless universe beyond.
“The Wilderness” is a much needed improvement over the band's previous two records. It keeps the gorgeous atmospheres while upping the instrumentation and adding a healthy dose of great percussion work, even if Explosions in the Sky still lack in the originality department.
Fav Tracks: Logic of a Dream, Disintegration Anxiety, Wilderness, Colors in Space, Landing Cliffs
Least Fav Track: The Ecstatics
Score:
6.8
Decent
The Wilderness sees Explosions In The Sky trying to expand their worn out sound a bit more by adding d electronic elements into the tracks and a more ambient feel with a stronger focus on their lush atmosphere, however i still don't find it necessary that engaging as The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place or Those Who Tell the Truth but it is a slight improvement to their previous album.
Track Review
Wilderness 7/10
The Ecstatics 7/10
Tangle Formations 6.5/10
Logic of a Dream ... read more
I need some more listens on this thing but some moments on this record are great and it’s well paced. I love the opener, but it sets up the rest of the album a bit wrong. Expected something not necessarily darker but grayer. That middle section of logic in a dream where it gets really heavy is really cool and not exactly normal for this band. Overall though it’s pretty good and has its own identity as an album. Love this group man.
1 | Wilderness 4:36 | 73 |
2 | The Ecstatics 3:12 | 65 |
3 | Tangle Formations 5:34 | 80 |
4 | Logic of a Dream 6:37 | 82 |
5 | Disintegration Anxiety 4:11 | 91 |
6 | Losing the Light 6:02 | 81 |
7 | Infinite Orbit 2:37 | 61 |
8 | Colors in Space 7:14 | 82 |
9 | Landing Cliffs 6:17 | 81 |
#31 | / | BLARE |
#31 | / | Gaffa (Norway) |
#32 | / | Consequence of Sound |
#41 | / | Earbuddy |
#58 | / | Rough Trade |
#62 | / | PopMatters |
#73 | / | Piccadilly Records |
#81 | / | Fopp |